


This Side of Paradise

by intothemidnightblue



Series: Ficlets [10]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Liminal Airbnb, M/M, Suburbia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26983156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intothemidnightblue/pseuds/intothemidnightblue
Summary: “It makes me want to scream,” Otto says. Awsten looks toward him. “I just don’t belong here."
Relationships: Awsten Knight/Geoff Wigington, Awsten Knight/Geoff Wigington/Otto Wood, Awsten Knight/Otto Wood
Series: Ficlets [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/792744
Kudos: 15





	This Side of Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Blue makes more liminal fanfic for a fandom he’s not actually in. not beta'd.  
> Poetry by me

_Scream, yell, there must be more_

_To heaven than stained bright fences!_

_I’ve never asked for anything_

_More than I’ve asked for this,_

_This can’t be the end of all things._

The air held the smell of afternoon barbecue as they sat on the roof of the Airbnb. Kids below shouted in their game of princes and dragons. Nameless faces who didn’t know them as well.

“We should walk,” Otto laid down, looking up at the sky, lacing his fingers into Awsten’s with some effort.

“I don’t really feel like getting lost in these lines of suburbia,” Awsten let it happen, content to hold hands with his friend, eyes grazing along the path this street led down, into the distance.

“We know the address, we have phones,” Otto reminded, “please?”

“For you, dear,” Awsten smiled. Otto’s lips tugged to a grin.

“After you,” Otto tugged their entertained hands, which just unbalanced Awsten, causing him to fall into quite the opposite of getting up.

“What if I don’t want to get up?” Awsten asked.

“You gotta,” Otto shoved into him gently.

“Fine,” Awsten raised himself, “if Geoff’s still asleep we’ll leave a note.”

“We could wake him?”

“Nah, let him rest.” Awsten smiled.

They got up languidly, pushing and shoving each other in a playful back and forth as they sought the comfort of touch. Everything here was comfortable, it was almost sickening how nuclear the development was. White picket fences and unlocked doors. It was a life they didn’t really lead, being on the road so often, they came home to their own comforts, but not like this.

“Next time we are going to have more of a say in the choice of building for vacay,” Awsten whispered as they passed Geoff passed out on the couch. Otto nodded.

“It’s near a lot of attractions, and better than living in the van for a week,” Otto shrugged as they left.

“Yeah but it’s like... a republican fantasy. A senator’s wet dream,” Awsten shivered dramatically. Their hands were still intertwined.

“It’s fine,” Otto laughed. Awsten grinned.

“Everyone here is practically Mormon,” Awsten waved to a neighbor, who waved back. They unlinked their hands in a quick action of learned shame, hands bumping back into one another as they missed the connection.

“It’s fine,” Otto repeated, smiling at the sound of something alternative being played from an open second-story window as they passed the next house.

They kept quiet as they walked down the street. Awsten took them down twists and turns, to an empty playground, deciding then, that it was their destination as he spotted swings.

“Aren’t we a little definitely too old for playgrounds?” Otto asked nervously.

“No one’s here,” Awsten rolled his eyes.

They sat on the swings, old and creaky. Awsten took out his phone and snapped a picture of Otto leaning towards him with a grin. Awsten then proceeded to swing as high as he could without losing his phone from his pocket, though Otto felt comfortable just sitting in nostalgia.

“We’re just local hooligans,” Awsten teased.

“Yeah I’m definitely too old to be called a hooligan,” Otto said. Awsten slowed his pace, twisting to face Otto as he moved.

“Could you see yourself here? Long term?” Awsten asked.

“Nah, not in a place like this,” Otto shook his head.

“I could, see myself here,” Awsten said, slowing to a complete stop.

“This what you want?” Otto asked.

“I think so,” Awsten grimaced, “it’s antiquated and ugly, but it’s like, the staple of stability. Better than that, it says something about freedom, even if it’s only surface-level. It’s like automatically you’re in this community with 2.5 kids and a dog. I don’t know if I want all of it, but I wish I fit in it.”

“I used to wish I fit in it,” Otto agreed, “now I’ve kind of accepted it’s not for me, not something I aspire to.”

“Yeah I get that, I don’t know why it’s still in the back of my mind,” Awsten dragged his feet in the mulch, upturning it to a fresh layer.

They sat in silence for a while, Awsten tapping on his phone as Otto just enjoyed the day. The sounds of activity around him kept him on edge, every bang of a trashcan lid and yell of a kid seemingly amplified in the silence.

“It makes me want to scream,” Otto says. Awsten looks toward him. “I just don’t belong here, it feels like, just so suffocating.”

“I get it, it’s the exact same thing in the air that makes me long for a place in all this,” Awsten shrugged.

“I couldn’t stand it here in the long run. It’s plastic,” Otto shook his head.

“You wanna go back inside?”

“In a bit.”

They stayed out until the sun leaned into the trees. Orange tingeing the sky. Awsten leaped up first, Otto taking his time getting off the swing. Awsten watched him with a wry smile. The locked hands again and travelled back to the Airbnb, content to exist as they were now that fewer people were in their front yards. The sound of a dog barking bounced around the buildings, all alike in form, though differing in colour.

Geoff greeted them at the door.

“Where were you two lovebirds,” Geoff teased.

“Chilling,” Otto shrugged. Awsten held out his free hand to Geoff, who smiled and took it. They filed through the door, having fun acting as one form, though it did take Awsten a second to get his shoes off with no hands.

“Couch time!” Awsten held their hands out to point to the large and criminally comfy couch the house had.

“Agreed,” Otto seconded. Geoff laughed.

“What did you guys do?” He asked.

“Just swung in the park near here,” Awsten tugged the two other men to the couch, twisting so they all fell into a pile. Their hands unlinked as Awsten pulled them into a group hug.

“How about we all get a house out here and live in perfect domesticity, how’s that sound? I’ll just marry the both of you and we can live in all that bliss.” Awsten closed his eyes as Otto turned on the tv.

“No can do,” Geoff reminded.

“Pretend,” Awsten pouted.

“Yes, Awsten I’ll marry you,” Geoff sighed.

“Not if I marry you first,” Otto joked, though his attention had moved to the tv. They stayed in a pile, watching what Otto had landed on. They adjusted slightly as they watched, naturally moving away from the pile long enough until they were all laid out at separate angles, finding the most awkward and comfy positions on the large couch.

“We missed dinner,” Geoff noted after a while.

“I’ll make popcorn,” Awsten got up with a hop.

“If we have any,” Otto said.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” Geoff asked. Otto switched to Netflix.

“Sure,” he said.

“Pick somethin’ then,” Geoff laid his head where Awsten had been.

They watched some thriller, mildly entertained more due to that fact they had popcorn. Throwing pieces at each other, careful to gather them all up and not leave any in the comfy couch.

“I bet there’s a year's worth of loose change in these cushions,” Geoff said.

“Oh fuck yeah, but I’m too lazy to check,” Awsten said, throwing a piece of popcorn into Otto’s mouth.

“Too comfy... sleepy,” Otto chewed through a yawn.

“We actually have to do stuff tomorrow don’t we?” Awsten didn’t know their calendar by heart.

“Yeah, we’re going to film some shit at the amusement park,” Geoff tried to remember.

“Oh cool, forgot about that,” Awsten snuggled deeper into the cushions, feeling tired as well.

“Are there blankets?” Otto asked.

“Behind the chair over there,” Geoff pointed.

“We could sleep down here!” Awsten got the memo.

“Yeah, I mean we might hurt in the morning but I don’t know, this couch is hella comfy,” Otto got up and gathered some blankets, throwing one to Geoff and Awsten before taking one for himself.

“Don’t care! I’m sleeping here, right now,” Awsten yawned, which caused Geoff to yawn, which caught Otto as well.

“Ah, fuck you,” Otto said through his yawn, smiling. Awsten stuck out his tongue at Otto.

“I don’t feel like moving,” Geoff said as Otto plopped back down on the couch.

“‘Tis agreed then,” Otto curled up in his blanket.

“Do you have alarms set?” Awsten asked Geoff.

“I do,” Otto promised.

“Cool,” Awsten let himself get comfortable with his blanket as Geoff did the same.

They all spread out on the large couch, with enough room to spare. A clock ticked somewhere in the room, but it was too dark to see it. A streetlight illuminated the blinds but didn’t do much to light the room. The air conditioning hummed through it all, even and steady. It was comforting, like home. Awsten fell asleep easily, content.

**Author's Note:**

> gay rights is mixed feelings about suburb aspirations and holding hands with your friends.  
> I'm just here to drop my fics and go but I'll stick around if the people here are nice. 
> 
> it took a lot of effort not to accidentally make one of them say pog if there's a pog in there im gunna riot.
> 
> _____________________________________________  
> comments and kudos keep me goin  
> find me on tumblr @ [lockewoodandco](http://www.lockewoodandco.tumblr.com)  
> twit @ [ jaceisblue](http://twitter.com/jaceisblue)  
> Also, check out my backlog if you're a fandom hopper!


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